Quoth the Raven
by Abs7
Summary: Because Anthony DiNozzo didn't always quote movies. Pre-series, how Tony met Gibbs.
1. Of Bodies and Bar Fights

AN: Yeah it's another one of those Baltimore stories…sue me.

Disclaimer: I own approximately…well if you count that one time…nope still nothing.

Chapter 1

It was 3:00 PM in Baltimore, a November chill and a slight wind was a constant reminder of just how close winter was. This did not seem to affect the young man sitting on the park bench, wearing only a thin jacket to protect him from the cold. Anyone who watched long enough would notice that every five minutes or so he'd take a silver flask from inside the jacket and drink. If one had any doubts as to what was in the flask the man's bloodshot eyes might serve as a rather sufficient clue. But there is nobody to see him drink, or to wonder what could possibly be in that silver flask because aside from a single raven perched in a nearby tree the run down old park is completely empty. The man tilts his head back to watch the raven, the back of the bench rubbing rather uncomfortably against his neck. Then, it's a though the bird notices his gaze for it ruffles it's feathers, lets out a shrieking caw, and flies from the tree and far out of view. With a small sigh the man puts his sunglasses on, although the sun is thoroughly hidden behind the clouds, and takes another drink from the flask. Soon thereafter, the man has fallen asleep on the old park bench with not another soul, not even the raven, in sight.

The wispy clouds that had covered the sun earlier in the day were now so dark that they could almost blend in with the night sky. It had begun to rain some three hours ago and it didn't seem as though it would stop any time soon, if anything the rain fell harder, the thunder was nearly constant, and an impermeable fog reduced visibility to almost nothing.

Local news channels recommended that everyone stay off the roads unless it was a complete emergency. That didn't deter one Leroy Jethro Gibbs from speeding down the road at nearly double the speed limit for it was late, nearly midnight, and he had a crime scene to process with only two fairly useless probies to assist him. Fortunately, with a little coffee this would be just like any other day.

In the backseat of the car, the two probies, whose names Gibbs has so far neglected to learn, looked like they were both about to be sick. Gibbs was wondering which one would demand he pull over so they could throw up. It was only a matter of time. In the front seat was Medical Examiner Donald 'Ducky' Mallard, who was all to accustomed to Gibbs' less than pleasant driving style, in fact, the elderly ME seemed to be sleeping.

Going at nearly double the speed limit Gibbs had managed to make the drive from D.C to Baltimore in about forty five minutes, when it usually took an hour. He would've liked to make the drive faster but given the weather and the carsick probies taking fifteen minutes off of the usual time would have to do. The car comes to a screeching stop outside the building that clearly houses their crime scene. The police presence here was full force; there's a slew of cop cars up and down the road and uniformed police officers are spilling out of the apartment building. Too bad they were about to lose their crime scene.

"Duck, time to go" Gibbs says, shaking the medical examiner's shoulder lightly.

The elderly man sits up suddenly, completely awake though he had been sleeping for the whole drive to Baltimore. "Right you are Jethro, I assume we'll have to deal with all of this" Ducky says, gesturing to the cop cars parked up and down the road.

Ducky gets only a grunt from Gibbs in return. He hasn't had his coffee yet and was in no mood to have to argue for his crime scene. Hopefully he'd end up talking to some newbie who he could just intimidate into turning over the crime scene. No deals, no shared jurisdiction. That was usually the best way to do it because very few people were actually able to work well with Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

Gibbs has to hide his smile as he sees the probies stumbling out of the backseat, both looking more than a little green,. "Grab your gear" he says, and without bothering to wait for them goes to find whoever's in charge of the crime scene. From what he had been told on the phone a young Petty Officer had been murdered in her home and her daughter was missing. Gibbs has a sinking feeling that this would not be an easy case.

As it turns out, Gibbs didn't even have to look for the man in charge, the second he steps onto the crime scene a burly cop with a walrus mustache stops him. Oh, things were about to get interesting.

Gibbs shoves his badge at the walrus, "Gibbs, NCIS. This is our crime scene now." He says trying not to give the cop any time to argue with him. It didn't work.

"Not sure if you noticed _Leroy_, but you're in Baltimore, not D.C. This is my jurisdiction."

It was the name. Always the name. Dumbass cop.

"I'm not sure if _you_ noticed but the dead woman was a Petty Officer. In the Navy. That makes it my jurisdiction."

"We've also got a missing person. Is that your jurisdiction too?"

"It is now."

Seeming to realize that he wasn't going to win this argument the walrus says "We can share jurisdiction. My people will take the body-"

Gibbs cuts him off quickly, "We've got an ME, we've got a lab that will process the evidence a hell of a lot faster than yours, we don't need to share jurisdiction. This is my crime scene now." This is what he got for making fun of his name. No compromises, no deals, and ultimately no sympathy for the burly walrus-mustached cop.

"I'm not going to let you push me off this case completely!"

"I'll keep you informed on our progress. That's the best deal you're going to get."

"Fine, but I want to know about everything you get on this case."

"You'll get what I tell you" Gibbs says and pushes past the cop and into the apartment that was their crime scene.

The probies had long since caught up with Gibbs, and had actually gotten to see the last part of the argument with the walrus. Now they stood behind Gibbs, waiting for instructions.

Without sparing them a glance Gibbs says "What, is this your first day at a crime scene. Bag and tag, photograph. I would hope you know the drill!"

And with that, the probies are off, tripping over themselves in a futile attempt to impress Gibbs. Ducky was thankfully much more professional than the probies and had already started to get to work on the body.

"We got a cause of death Duck?"

"Actually Jethro, our dead petty officer isn't dead" Ducky says, loud enough for all the cops still in the room to hear.

Everyone goes silent.

"_What?"_ Gibbs snaps.

And then the 'dead' petty officer makes a sound halfway between choking and coughing and tries to sit up.

Well damn.

The young man on the park bench had long since woken up, thankfully so because it had started to rain, or pour was more accurate. His watch had been missing for at least a week now and his phone had long since been smashed so he hasn't the slightest idea what time it is. What he does know is that he had been kicked out of the bar he had taken to after waking from his nap on the park bench. It was a good thing there was many others in town. He was still able to think clearly so obviously he hasn't yet had enough to drink.

Walking in a straight line without stumbling was proving to be quite difficult but it was manageable, especially since he didn't want to seem like some drunk stumbling into the bar-even if that description was fairly accurate. As it turns out, run down old bars were quite popular at this time of night, if only he knew what this time was, and the place was fairly crowded. He take a seat on an old barstool that looks like it's seen better days, and before he even waves over the bartender a vaguely familiar face is right in front of him.

"Anthony DiNozzo, it's been a while since we've seen you around here."

"I've had better things to do." Tony says, duly noting the slight slur of his words and the faint Long Island accent that occasionally made a reappearance when he was either drunk or tired. In this case it was both,

"Oh, like getting your partner killed _Detective_?"

Tony doesn't even try to protest, arguing with this guy would be useless. Punching him would be a much better way to shut him up. And so he does, right across the face, probably breaking his nose. The guy had a pretty hard face and now Tony's hand was throbbing but it was totally worth it. Or at least, it was before the guy swung back. Okay, so punching him wasn't the best idea, now both men had broken noses and faces covered in blood. Before it could turn into a full on bar fight-which Tony was kind of hoping it would-two guys grab Tony by the arms and promptly throw him out of the bar, cursing and yelling as they go.

Sitting outside of the bar on the curb Tony dabs at his nose with the sleeve of his jacket, trying to wipe up some off the blood but only making it hurt a hell of a lot more. "Son of a bitch" he mutters under his breath.

It was a good thing he didn't have work in the morning or else he'd have a hard time explaining the broken nose and massive hangover that was sure to come. He actually didn't have work for the next week. Which was probably for the best because he'd been drinking more and more since he'd been placed on administrative leave.

It was bad enough that his partner was killed. That guy had been like a brother to him. He was the only person in the entire Baltimore PD that didn't actually hate Tony. And now people were accusing Tony of getting him killed. Hence, the administrative leave. It was a good thing that his two years in Baltimore was almost up because he needed to get the hell out of there.

It was a miracle Gibbs hadn't killed anyone yet. How did a whole entire police department not notice the fact that their 'body' was still breathing. How was it possible that they were all that fucking stupid? Nobody had even bothered to check if their so called 'corpse' had a pulse. Well, she did when they got there but not anymore. They had called the paramedics and Ducky had done what he could but the woman died shortly after Ducky discovered that she was alive. There would be hell to pay for this.

Right now, the majority of the Baltimore PD was paying for the massive mistake.

"How the hell did you idiots not notice she wasn't dead? Did any of you even check for a pulse or did you just see blood and assume she was gone?" The walrus mustache cop was currently bitching out the rest of the police force while Gibbs and the NCIS crew finished processing their crime scene. This time, they were sure the body was actually a body. Funny how people forgot to do that sometimes.

"I'm going to kill them." Gibbs mutters under his breath, the only person close enough to hear being Ducky.

The usually kind ME, couldn't help but agree with Gibbs. "I'll help you hide the bodies" he mutters angrily.

About two minutes later the Baltimore PD looked suitably chagrined and the walrus mustache walks over Gibbs, presumably to try and explain. Of course, Gibbs was in no mood for substandard explanations and so the cop was quickly cut off. "I don't want to hear excuses I want to know what happened from the time you got here until we arrived."

"We got the call at 10:30, the petty officer was the one calling, said that someone was in her house and she was hiding in the closet. We were the first on scene. We get to the door and right before we go in we hear it lock from the inside. Officers break down the door, the only person in the house is the petty officer. No killer, her daughter missing. No windows were open, the front door is the only way in or out. We have no idea how the killer got out."

Gibbs almost shot the man right there. "Did it ever occur to you that the killer could still be in the house!"

The apartment is thoroughly searched but there is nothing to be found, it is as though the killer simply disappeared.

"Is there any way the killer could've gone out through the windows?" Gibbs asks, the window being the only option left.

"We're on the second floor, sure they could survive the drop but how would they close the window behind them?"

"Just check the damn windows!" Gibbs says, looking for any possibilities at this point. Of course, he didn't really trust his probies to check to windows by themselves so he go to work checking them himself. Halfway through the house and Gibbs was pretty sure it was a dead end, that is until a set of bloody footprints lead right to the god damned window then simply disappeared. He opens the window ever so slightly, and as soon as he lets go it drops straight back down. Well, all least they knew how the killer got out. That still left a dead petty officer and a missing kid.

Gibbs looks out the window for just a moment, the bloody footprints stop entirely once out of the house so there's no trail there, but what he does see is a man sitting on the curb just down the road from the apartment. The only person on the street. That was something worth checking out. He tells his probies to keep collecting evidence then leaves to go talk to their potential witness.

Tony DiNozzo didn't hear anyone coming until they were only a few feet from him, on instinct he reaches for where his gun would usually be, only to remember that he turned it in when he was placed on leave. Of course, the other person didn't know that he didn't actually have a weapon and before he knew it he was staring down the barrel of a gun.

"NCIS, put your hands were I can see them."

"Take it easy Navy cop, I don't have a gun." Tony says, or rather slurs.

"Then why are you reaching for one?" the navy cop asks, his finger moving towards the trigger of his gun.

"Habit I suppose. I should introduce myself, _Detective _Anthony DiNozzo. Baltimore PD."

"You got a badge to back that up?"

Fuck. When he turned his gun in the badge went with it. Tony just shakes his head ever so slightly. By now the blood from his nose was making a thin trail down his face although that was the last thing on his mind at the moment.

"Then I guess you're coming with me. Let's go."

With a small groan Tony stands up slowly, his knee making a very painful crack as he did. He wrecked it in college but it still gave him all sorts of troubles.

"You know my name I don't know yours" Tony says, not liking walking away with someone who hadn't even flashed a badge yet.

The navy cop slowly holsters his gun when it's pretty clear Tony wasn't going to do anything and takes out his badge and creds to shove in Tony's face.

"Gibbs, NCIS. Now let's go."

Even under these circumstances, Tony couldn't help but smile a little. The navy cop didn't look like much of a Leroy to him.


	2. Detectives and Coffee

AN: Another chapter so soon? Why not. I hope you like it…reviews are a beautiful thing.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 2.

Gibbs takes one look at DiNozzo's attempt to walk straight and scowls. "Alright, how much have you had to drink?"

"Is drinking a crime?" Tony counters, although it's quite obvious that however much he had it was just a little bit too much.

"No, I just want to know what level of stupid I have to deal with."

"Well in that case let's suffice to say that I'll be catching a cab home."

Of course. Not only did he have to deal with the idiots of the Baltimore PD but he also had to deal with the intoxicated idiot who was their only witness and he may or may not be with the aforementioned idiots. Well, he never said this would be an easy case.

"What happened to your face?" Gibbs asks, now that he was sure DiNozzo wasn't trying to pull a gun on him he was actually kind of interested to know what happened to the guy's face.

"I got in a slight disagreement…with a bartender." Tony says, and he doesn't even have the good grace to sound embarrassed by it. In fact, he actually seems kind of proud. Probably just glad he made it out of the bar alive if he was the one taking swings at the bartender.

"Why am I not surprised?"

As they approach the crime scene the cops were just starting to leave but they notice that Gibbs is not alone and stick around to see if they caught the killer already. Then Tony and Gibbs get a little closer and they see who Gibbs has with him. Gibbs can't quite pick out exactly what they are saying but it's clear that they know him, and that they don't particularly like him. Ignoring all the other cops Gibbs finds the one in charge once more.

When he finds the cop with the walrus mustache he grabs DiNozzo by the collar and shoves him at the walrus. "Does this belong to you? Says he's a Detective Anthony DiNozzo, Baltimore PD."

Evidently, DiNozzo knows the cop, because he suddenly seems to sober up enough that Gibbs was wondering if DiNozzo wasn't drinking quite as much as he let on.

"Tom this isn't what it looks like I swear"

"What the h-ll is wrong with you? You've just been put on administrative leave then you end up drunk and bloody, staggering around a crime scene."

"So, I take it he's yours?" Gibbs asks, giving the walrus, correction: giving Tom, a questioning look.

"He's a Detective alright, but he sure as h-ll isn't my problem, you'll have to talk to James…" Tom stops for a moment and swears under his breath, "Yeah I guess he's my problem. Come on DiNozzo, let's go."

Tony starts to walk away with the Detective but Gibbs stops them both, "I don't think so, Detective DiNozzo could possibly be a witness. We'll need to talk to him."

"Alright then, he's your problem now then." Tom says then gets in one of the numerous police cars and drives off along with the rest of the Baltimore PD.

Once he's gone Gibbs turns to DiNozzo and says "Administrative leave huh?"

"People get killed someone's gotta take the blame, I'm as good a target as any." Tony says in a very small voice and Gibbs had a feeling that if he wasn't slightly drunk there was no way in hell that he would've said that. Even in his current state he seems to regret it the second it leaves his mouth. Gibbs decides not to press the issue…for now, of course.

In his absence the probies finished processing their crime scene and the assistant ME had come to collect the body. At this point there wasn't much they could do until the evidence could be processed and tests could be run. Overall it had been an extremely unproductive night. Well, at least they still had DiNozzo to give them answers, that is if he saw anything, or rather could remember anything.

"Alright DiNozzo, you're coming with me."

"Can I ask where?"

"You can ask."

And with that Gibbs gives Tony a small shove towards the car "Back seat, we'll be over in a minute."

Tony nods sullenly and gets in the backseat of the car.

On Gibbs' orders the probies pack up the evidence and the gear and followed Tony to the car leaving only Ducky and Gibbs still outside.

"I see we have picked up a stray" Ducky says looking pointedly at Tony in the back seat of the car.

"He might have seen something; he was right outside the building."

"Ah, and what are the chances he'll actually remembering anything he saw? He didn't look too steady walking over here."

"Once he sobers up or right now?"

"I'll take that as slim to none."

"He's our only shot at this point."

"You think he'll be any help?"

"I sure hope so."

And with that they both get in the car. Gibbs starts driving and then turns around slightly to talk to Tony "Alright where's the best place to get coffee around here?"

Hiding a small smirk Tony directs them to the nearest coffee shop that would be open at this hour. Of course, all traces of that smirk are gone once he gets a taste of Gibbs' driving which is less than pleasant. The man must really want his coffee.

The car stops at what might be the only coffee shop open at 1:00 in the morning in a location that you wouldn't get shot at. They all get out of the car, Gibbs grinning once more at the green looking probies. Much to his surprise Tony looked almost as unbothered as Ducky by Gibbs' driving. Huh, maybe he wasn't going fast enough then.

Gibbs notes that Tony is having a little less trouble walking straight lines as the walk into the coffee shop although he still wouldn't trust the guy to drive, or do anythingother than walk really because it seems like it's taking quite a bit of focus to keep from stumbling. Gibbs, Ducky, and Tony sit in a booth and the probies are sent away to their own table with orders from Gibbs to find a hotel that's got open rooms. They all just order coffee and while they're waiting Gibbs points to the blood on Tony's face and tells him to go clean up. A few minutes later DiNozzo returns from the bathroom looking significantly less bloody than before. Right after DiNozzo gets back the coffee comes, and while it's not particularly good coffee it will have to do. After drinking nearly half his cup Gibbs decides it would be a good time to start asking questions.

"Alright DiNozzo, how long were you outside on the curb?"

"I was outside before the police came, so quite a while I guess."

"You see anyone coming or going from the apartment building?"

"The whole time I was out there? Alright well, I saw about five or six drunk guys, and I mean drunk like hammered, could hardly walk, they went into the building about 10:15. A couple came in around 10:30 but they were to….distracted, to be your killer I'll tell you that much. Right before the couple was another guy, looked like he was coming home late from work or something. Nobody else went in that I saw. As far as going out goes, I only saw one person, but they weren't using a door, I think it was some kid sneaking out for a party or something."

"It wasn't a kid it was our killer, did he have anyone with him?"

"Nope, he was alone I'm sure of that."

Well, they knew how the killer got out, but the only person who had seen him there was a slightly drunken less than credible witness and it still left the petty officer's daughter missing. God forbid they get anywhere on this case.

Turning around to talk to the probies who were seated at the table behind them Gibbs says "You got hotel rooms yet?"

From the nervousness in the probies voice you would've thought that Gibbs was going to kill them if they didn't have the right answer. This was why Gibbs didn't like probies. They were always too nervous to get things done or they were tripping over themselves trying to impress him. Probies rarely lasted more than a month on team Gibbs. If you lasted more than a year you could pretty much have any opening at NCIS. That was the only reason anyone would ever ask to be on team Gibbs, as a career builder if you could last that long.

These probies however, were at least slightly competent and had actually managed to get two rooms in a hotel not far from the crime scene.

Three cups of coffee later they were on their way once again. DiNozzo had tried to insist that he would just catch a cab back to his apartment but between Gibbs and Ducky he certainly wouldn't have a chance at winning that argument. He gave up pretty quickly but not without plenty of bitching and whining to make sure everyone knew just how much he hated the plan. Eventually Gibbs just did what he would do to any of his probies; he slapped him on the back of the head. Yep, that sure shut him up.

Tony tells Gibbs the address of his apartment which is surprisingly close Gibbs drives there at the same break-neck speed that he had used to get to the coffee shop, if not going slightly faster. Right before DiNozzo gets out of the car Gibbs hands him a card and says "Call me if you remember anything else."

With that Tony gets out of the car and the door is barely shut before Gibbs speeds off once more. He had a feeling he'd be seeing a lot more of Anthony DiNozzo and he wasn't quite sure whether that was good or bad.


	3. You're That Anthony DiNozzo?

AN: Nope…Actually I've got nothing. Thanks for all the reviews (:

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 3.

Now that Gibbs was gone Tony didn't even have to try to act like he was the slightest bit sober. It had been quite the ordeal to not only remember everything he'd seen outside the apartment building but to have to walk in straight lines as well. That was no feat easily accomplished. All things considered, the night could've been worse. At least his boss didn't see him. Oh wait, but he did. So now, along with being a witness in a murder investigation his boss was probably filling out paperwork to get him fired. Well, his two years was almost up anyways.

Tony walks, or rather staggers, into his apartment, bumping into a few walls as he goes. He fumbles in his pocket for the key wondering if it would just be easier to break the lock at this point. After three tries he manages to unlock the door and he practically falls inside. Slamming the door shut behind him he takes two steps then trips over a stack of old case files that had been left on his floor after his last case. He manages to regain his balance and avoid falling face first onto his coffee table. Having effectively destroyed what was a neat, orderly pile, he doesn't bother to try and pick them up at this point, he'd just take care of it in the morning.

It hadn't occurred to him how much of a mess his apartment was until he had to walk drunkenly through it trying to avoid the various piles of dirty laundry, and case files, and stacks of old pizza boxes. It was proving to be quite the event and he was actually considering just saying screw it and falling asleep in his clothes on his couch. Of course, he couldn't forget about that pesky broken nose of his; that would need reset. Of course he could always go to the hospital and have them do it for him but why bother when his bathroom would work just as well. Holding the back of his couch for balance he makes his way across the small living room without further tripping. It was a small accomplishment but he was still one step closer to his goal.

Tony was about halfway through his bedroom when he starts to feel dizzy. He grabs the edge of his desk and tries to get the room to stop spinning. _DiNozzo's do not pass out!_ No, he wasn't going to pass out, or at least not now. He had to at least wait until he sat down for that. He takes a deep breath and lets go of his desk, the room was still spinning but not quite fast enough to screw with his balance. He makes his way into the bathroom taking very small steps and hoping not to fall. He gets into the bathroom and looks in the mirror at his nose. Yep, definitely broken. Now for the matter of resetting it,. Should be fun. Clenching his teeth he goes about realigning his nose, a very painful process as it turns out, especially since he waited so long to do it. Then it occurred to him that he shouldn't take painkillers with the amount of alcohol he's been drinking. Awesome. Well, there was always the option of just drinking more…No. He wasn't going to turn into his father. No more alcohol for Tony DiNozzo tonight. Good thing it was practically morning.

He strips down to his boxers, stumbles out of the bathroom, flops on his bed, and falls asleep almost immediately. Unfortunately, sleep was fitful and plagued with nightmares, or rather one nightmare over and over again. It was the same thing every night, it was also the reason he had taken to drinking. But drinking didn't get rid of the nightmares. It just made them easier to forget in the morning, and so for the last week he has been reliving the same moment over and over again in his sleep.

Tony DiNozzo had finally gotten a suspect, with a little bribing of the lab techs the DNA test for his case got done first and they finally had a suspect. The guy even looked like a serial killer and rapist…but maybe that was profiling. Tony's partner, Detective James Nolan, had found the guy's address and they were going to pick him up for questioning. It should have been easy but in a case where three young girls were raped and murdered nothing could just be easy. They arrived at the house and it seemed to be empty, then James had looked in the window and saw a body lying in a pool of blood on the floor. The door was promptly kicked down only to reveal that it had been rigged to explode upon opening. The blast knocked Tony unconscious and it wasn't until the bullets started flying that he started to wake up. Just in time to see his partner take one right in the chest.

That's when he woke up every time. Right after he watched his partner die. He had killed the guy who shot him but it was too late, James hadn't been wearing a bulletproof vest and didn't have much of a chance. Now Tony was without a partner, his best friend had died, and everyone was blaming him for it. He let them blame him however, because he was pretty sure he deserved it. There wasn't a whole lot Tony could've done at the time but he wished he would've done more. Woken up just a second earlier. Then his partner might still be alive. Life was a real bitch sometimes.

Today it wasn't the end of the nightmare that woke Tony up, but rather the shrill ringing of a phone to further aggravate his pounding headache. Instead of getting up to answer it he pulls a pillow over his head and tries to ignore it. Many rings later it still hadn't stopped. With a small groan he literally rolls out of his bed and onto the floor. He sits up slowly and looks around in search of the phone, pleased to find it was on the bedside table right next to him. Thank god for small mercies because he wasn't getting up any time soon.

He answers the phone in a groggy voice, "Hello?"

"DiNozzo! This is the fifth time I've called. Get up, get dressed, we'll be there in ten minutes, we've got more questions for you."

"Gibbs? What the fuck?" Tony says his voice once again slipping into the Long Island accent, made only more prominent by the profanity.

"You kiss your mother with that mouth?"

"My mother's dead."

That got a bit of silence. Serves him right.

"Just get ready. You've got ten minutes."

"Is that even legal?" Tony mutters drowsily.

"If you shut up now I'll bring coffee."

"Shutting up, see you in ten."

Tony hangs up the phone and proceeds to throw it across the room. He didn't think he'd ever hated anyone more than he hates Leroy Jethro Gibbs right now. If this wasn't a murder investigation he would've told Gibbs to fuck off but people were dead and Gibbs needed to get answers. He could understand that much. What he didn't understand was waking up a hungover witness to damn early in the morning. He supposed people got things done different ways but if this was Gibbs' way of getting answers then it was a miracle that he ever solved any cases. And only ten minutes? That seemed a little unfair.

DiNozzo practically scrapes himself up off the floor, stumbles into the bathroom, and into the shower. Ten minutes later he was just stepping out of the shower when he heard someone pounding on his door. He ran to open it then realized he wasn't wearing pants. He was pretty sure Gibbs wouldn't appreciate being greeted by a unclothed DiNozzo. Pants first, door second.

Tony quickly pulls on a pair of old jeans and runs to the door, he opens it and says "I'll be out in two minutes, make yourself at home" before retreating back to his bedroom.

He really hoped Gibbs could navigate the piles of junk better than he did. Although, it might be kind of interesting if he couldn't'.

In his bedroom Tony pulls on a plain white t-shirt, a gray, hooded, Ohio State sweatshirt, and a pair of sneakers before running back into his living room to see Gibbs and the Medical Examiner waiting in the living room and the probies standing awkwardly by the door. Probably afraid of getting attacked by one of the massive piles of case files on the floor.

"You're nose looks better than last night" The ME observes, before Gibbs can get pissed at Tony for taking longer than the allotted ten minutes.

"Yeah I reset it, Doctor….?"

"Doctor Donald Mallard, call me Ducky. You reset it by yourself?" Ducky asks, looking like he wasn't too pleased by that possibility.

"I played college football and basketball, I'm not a stranger to broken noses."

One of the probie's speak up from their place by the door "What, like intermural or something?"

Tony laughs, "Nice try. Starter, both sports. Ohio State."

"What did you say you're name was?" The same probie asks…he really should figure out their names.

"Anthony DiNozzo"

"Wait, you're _that_ Anthony DiNozzo"

"The one and only"

"Am I missing something?" Gibbs asks sharply.

"Boss, he's like a legend at Ohio State!" The probie says excitedly, only to be shut up by what Tony can only describe as a death stare from Gibbs.

"I'd expect even you to know something of Anthony's athletic career; surely you've heard Abigail go on about him." Ducky says, and it's pretty obvious he had made the connection to the star player at Ohio State long before the probie but hadn't said anything.

Gibbs just shrugs, "I only understand about half of what Abby says"

Now they had Tony wondering who this Abby girl was. He was kind of wondering if she was hot…

"No matter, Abigail will however be thrilled to meet Anthony here." Ducky says.

"You about ready to go DiNozzo?" Gibbs asks, effectively ending the previous conversation.

"Yeah, um where are we going?"

"Back to D.C. we've got work to do."

"Well I get that _you_ have work to do, but how am I involved?"

"I talked to your boss, you're mine until the end of this case."

Tony is shocked, he certainly hadn't been expecting that. Sure he had been expecting to have to answer some more questions but now his boss was lending him out to the Navy Cops? Well, it wasn't like he had actual work to do anyways. Administrative leave would do that to you.

"Alright then, did you bring coffee?"

"It's in the car, now let's go DiNozzo, before something crawls out from under these files and kills me."

"Wait one more thing!"

_"__What!"_

"I've got to feed my goldfish!" Tony says, and runs into across the room, hurdling piles of case files and dirty laundry, to a little glass bowl with a single goldfish inside. He feeds the fish and then runs back over to Gibbs.

"Now, we can leave."


	4. The One and Only

AN: Chapter 4, because why not. Hooray for reviewers! You guys rock!

Disclaimer: Did you really think I actually owned anything? Really?

Chapter 4.

Tony can't help but grin at the look on Gibbs' face; something between anger and amusement, a very interesting combination. Of course, his grin disappears when Gibbs slaps him on the back of the head which really didn't do a whole lot of favors for his headache.

"Ouch! Why the hell do you keep doing that?"

The two probies respond in unison "It's a wakeup call."

"Well, I'm certainly awake now" Tony mutters.

"What was that DiNozzo?" Gibbs asks, just daring him to say it again.

"Nothing!"

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Now let's go."

With that, they all leave Tony's apartment and start walking to the car, right before they get in Tony speaks up.

"I don't assume you'd let Dr. Mallard drive would you?"

Everyone, even Gibbs, laughs at that one.

"Not a chance DiNozzo" Gibbs says.

Of course not. It was an hour drive to D.C. and he'd be lucky if he didn't throw up after ten minutes considering Gibbs' driving style. It made him wonder who taught him to drive like that…and how did he not get pulled over every time he drove. From what Tony could tell from just Gibbs' driving last night the man rarely went the speed limit and didn't have much regard for stop signs or red lights. It was a miracle nobody had died.

"Can _I_ drive then?"

"Are you still drunk DiNozzo? Just get in the back seat."

Fair enough.

He climbs into the backseat of the car along with the two probies and asks "Is he always like this or does he just hate me?"

"I actually think he might like you, he'd had killed anyone else for even asking to drive." One of the probies says. If he wasn't going to learn their names then he really needed a way to identify them. Perhaps, thing one and thing two. That seemed to be as good a name as any.

The first five minutes of the car ride are spent in silence before curiosity gets the best of one of the probies and the questions start coming. Almost the whole drive to D.C. was spent talking about Tony's rather short lived athletic career at Ohio State, even Ducky occasionally pitched in a comment or two, which however was strange because usually Ducky was the one doing all the talking, upon hearing that Tony practically shoved all the attention to Ducky, and much to the dismay of Gibbs and the probies they all got a very long winded story of…well Tony zoned out at that point because evidently Ducky could have a whole conversation by himself, which was just fine with Tony.

Much to Tony's relief Ducky spent the better portion of the car ride with his story and Tony didn't have to do much talking after that, which suited him just fine because as much as he loved the attention he still had a headache. And to think that drinking had seemed like a good idea at the time. Not so much anymore. Ducky had just wrapped up his tale as they arrived at NCIS headquarters in D.C. The security guards seemed rather surprised that Gibbs had brought someone back who was alive and not handcuffed and Tony had a feeling that Gibbs didn't often bring in people who weren't victims or suspects.

As they get out of the car Tony says "Thank god we're finally out of that car. I thought Gibbs driving would kill us all." Alright, so maybe it wasn't quite that bad but it was still pretty damn amazing that Gibbs hadn't been pulled over numerous times during the drive over. Not only did he go much faster than the speed limit but he also made a point of driving extremely…aggressively, to say the least.

"Next time you'll walk DiNozzo" Gibbs retorts and Tony is pretty sure he's not kidding.

"Or you know, you could just not drag me to D.C. next time." Tony says sourly, still not entirely pleased with having been woken up by Gibbs calling him repeatedly.

"I'm sorry did you have something better planned for today?"

Well, Tony didn't exactly have an answer for that one. His plans for today were going to be trying to explain his presence at last night's crime scene and then probably drinking a lot and watching some old movies or something. At this point it didn't look like he'd be doing any of that until Gibbs' case was solved. That was undoubtedly a good thing because Tony certainly didn't need to be doing any more drinking than he already was.

"Didn't think so" Gibbs says when Tony doesn't immediately answer. "Now make yourself useful and help the probies take the evidence to Abby."

"Don't you have to ask me more questions?" Tony questions, wondering why he was here if it wasn't to answer questions.

"Later."

"Really? You woke me up before 7 am to ask me questions _later_?"

"Yeah, I'd say that's about right."

"You're a peculiar kind of bastard." Tony mutters.

"That's what the second B in Gibbs is for."

Well that was certainly accurately.

Obviously having won the argument Gibbs leaves with Ducky, presumably to go look at the body that the assistant medical examiner had brought here the night before.

Tony turns to the probies and asks "Is it even possible to win an argument with him?"

"Only if you're Ducky." One of the probies answers. Damn he really wished he knew their names. Of course, not enough that he'd actually ask but just enough that he hoped Gibbs would mention it at one point or another. Hopefully that would be sooner rather than later.

The probie then proceeds to shove him a massive box of evidence that Tony was pretty sure weighed more than he did. And he was carrying the smallest box. The larger of the two probies took what looked to be the heaviest box and led the way to take all of the evidence to Abby. Tony figured the lab must be pretty massive if they were going to get all of this processed in any sort of timely matter. If he took that much evidence to the lab in Baltimore the poor little lab rats would die of heart attacks.

Tony follows behind the two probies who obviously knew their way around much better than he did. The walk to Abby's lab was proving to be quite eventful before they even got into the building. The boxes were big enough that it was difficult to see around them and so there was a lot of running into walls and stumbling around, however they did eventually make it inside only to see that someone was holding up the elevator and if they wanted to get to Abby's lab quickly it looked like they would be taking the stairs.

"Who the hell would be stopping the elevator?" Tony asks.

"Gibbs. It's where he has meetings." A probie answers.

"Does he do that often?"

"Only when something is wrong."

"Any idea what's gone wrong?"

"If I had to guess? Probably you."

"Me?" Tony says incredulously, the only thing he had done was show up at the crime scene. Now, unless Gibbs was more easily shaken than Tony thought that wasn't enough to warrant stopping the whole damn elevator.

"Yep."

"Well, what did I do?" Tony asks, still not seeing the point.

"Hard to say, there's quite a list."

"Like what!"

"Well, there's the fact that you showed up to our crime scene drunk."

"Enough said." Tony says quickly, not needing any reminder of that particular incident.

The walk down to Abby's lab wasn't as bad as Tony thought it would be, despite having to take the stairs they all still made it down relatively unscathed. Before they go inside to drop of the evidence one of the probies warns Tony "She'll probably try and hug you. If you know what's good for you you'll just let her."

Well alright then.

As they walk into the lab a probie says "Hey Abs, we've got evidence for you!"

From somewhere in the lab comes the voice of what sounds like a young woman, "Just put it on the table Eric I'm busy."

Eric. Alright, one down one to go. Progress was being made. At least now he would be able to distinguish between the two.

"It's quite a bit and Gibbs wants it done as soon as possible." The probie that wasn't Eric says.

"Well Greg, like I told Eric you can just put it on the table and I'll get to it."

It was about damn time he learned their names! Now he could finally refer to them by name instead of 'hey you' as he had been doing.

"Too busy to drop everything for Gibbs? You might not be his favorite after this" Greg says.

Gibbs have a favorite? For some reason Tony just pictured him disliking everyone but Ducky and he wasn't even too sure about that one. Abby must be pretty freaking special if she had gotten Gibbs to like her. He'd have to remember to ask her how she had managed that because he could certainly use some pointers in that department.

There's a loud crash in the back of the lab and Tony sees a few boxes fall off a shelf and their contents scatter all over the floor. Shortly after that a young women dressed in a black miniskirt, a tight red t-shirt with a skull, and black platform boots comes into view. In addition to her…interesting outfit her black hair was in pigtails, she had black lipstick, and one or two visible tattoos. This girl was Abby? Damn, that wasn't what he had been expecting. It takes him a moment to realize that he should probably get his jaw off the floor and stop staring.

Abby's eyes immediately go to Tony. "You brought a friend?" She says, and really doesn't sound all that pleased about it.

"Yeah, Gibbs got him from Baltimore." Eric pitches in.

"But what have I told you about strangers in my lab?" Abby says sternly.

"Not to bring them."

"Exactly, so why is he here?"

"Gibbs needed him to bring you the evidence."

"Gibbs will pay for this in Caf-Pows." Abby says stubbornly before looking back at Tony. "Alright, who are you?"

"Detective Anthony DiNozzo, Baltimore PD." Tony says with one of his big smiles that usually made him friends well enough.

"That's funny, there used to be a guy who played football and basketball at Ohio State named Anthony DiNozzo." Abby says, and it sounds as if she was wishing that she was in the presence of the other Anthony DiNozzo, little did she know they were actually the same person.

"Oh yeah, I've heard of him. I actually went to college with the guy." Tony says thoughtfully as if he were trying to remember the other Anthony DiNozzo. This earns a laugh from Greg who tries to hide his laughter with a cough, which isn't very believable but Abby doesn't seem to be paying too much attention to him.

"Oh my god that's so weird!" Abby says, seeming thrilled that he actually knew the 'other' Anthony DiNozzo.

"Yeah, I saw him play a few times, the guy was pretty good."

"Pretty good? The guy was a legend, he would've gone pro but he wrecked his knee. I would like kill to meet him!" Abby says all in a very fast rush of words, accompanied with a lot of bouncing that made Tony wonder how much caffeine this girl had in her.

Tony was debating just how long he should let his little joke go on, it was kind of amusing actually and he was considering just waiting until one of the probies told her or she figured it out on her own. She seemed smart enough that it probably wouldn't take too long until she caught on, although he did want to see her face when she did and he did have a pretty good opportunity right now. He figured he might as well just tell her.

"I'll tell you what, a knee injury like that is a real bitch, really doesn't ever work quite the same after you do something like that." Tony says.

"You sound like you're speaking from experience, what did you do to yours?"

"Wrecked it playing football for Ohio State."

Abby's jaw drops to the floor and her eyebrows rise to incredible heights. "You're that Anthony DiNozzo!" She shouts and then glares at the probies and says "You two knew about this didn't you?"

Eric's and Greg's grins practically fall off their faces. Their reaction was probably even more amusing than Abby's.

"Of course not, why would you think that?" Eric asks nervously, looking to Greg for help.

"Yeah Abs, we had no idea." Greg adds in a panicked tone.

"You two should just remember that I can kill you and leave no evidence" Abby says threateningly and the pair of probies pale noticeably.

Tony chuckles at their reaction and suddenly the attention is right back on him. "So you're really that DiNozzo?" Abby asks with a huge smile.

"The one and only."


	5. Back to Baltimore

AN: Thanks again for reviews (: Keep 'em coming!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

Ch.5

Abby went from hating Tony to loving him in about five minutes. That was perfectly okay with him. Evidently, the girl was a huge Ohio State fan, and who could blame her. If Tony was right about her, more specifically how much she talked, then it wouldn't be long before all of NCIS knew that the guy Gibbs had drug in with him earlier that morning was Tony DiNozzo from Ohio State, as he was starting to be called by Abby. Although he did enjoy being recognized and loved talking sports he didn't think Gibbs would think too highly of it and further pissing the guy of probably wasn't a good idea. Gibbs…Where was that guy anyways? Probably still holding up the elevator.

Interrupting the conversation about 'Ohio State Tony' he asks "So how long does Gibbs usually spend in the elevator?"

Greg opens his mouth to answer but quickly shuts it after getting a hard look from Abby and Eric. Then they were all silent. And not looking right at him. More past him. Huh. That was weird.

"Seriously, what could he possibly be doing in there?" Tony questions, the possibilities flying through his mind at a million miles per hour.

"Working on the case DiNozzo!" Gibbs snaps harshly.

Wait a second Gibbs? Tony spins around quickly to find himself face to face with none other than Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Well damn. Before he has a chance to talk his way out of it Gibbs raises his hand and slaps Tony on the back of the head.

"I deserved that one didn't I?"

"Yeah, I'd say so." Gibbs says sounding rather smug.

"So Boss, we got anything?" Eric asks.

Before Gibbs answers his questions, or perhaps head slaps him for asking, his phone rings, preventing either the answer or the impending headslap. Gibbs answers the phone and after a few seconds of listening the smug look is completely gone and instead he looks pissed. He listens for a few more minutes before hanging up.

"We've got another body. Grab you're gear, we're going back to Baltimore." Gibbs says, already handing out orders. "Abs, get to work with that Evidence, Probies, DiNozzo, with me."

Gibbs walks out of the lab, the probies fall into step behind him, and Tony brings up the rear with his thoughts running wild. Another body already? Probably same killer or they wouldn't have called Gibbs. Well, they didn't actually know who the killer was yet so probably the same m.o. Serial killer maybe? Usually they didn't work quite that fast. They case had been active less than twenty four hours and the bodies were already starting to pile up. Two dead and one missing. And for some reason Tony didn't think it would be getting any easier.

When they get onto the elevator Ducky is already there, and Tony wonders if he even had a chance to leave before his and Gibbs' elevator meeting.

"We've got another body Duck, heading back to Baltimore." Gibbs says in a brief explanation.

This statement seems to start the gears turning in Ducky's head; chances were he was thinking the same thing that Tony, and likely Gibbs, was also thinking. Well, at least they would all be on the same page.

Gibbs, the probies, and DiNozzo all pile back into the car, although since Ducky has to drive the van Tony gets to sit in the front seat this time rather than in the back with the probies. To say he 'gets' to sit there might be overstating it since he practically raced the probies to the car and fought for the front seat. A few minutes into the drive to Baltimore and Tony was wishing he had sat in the back; Tony was sure that sitting up front just made Gibbs' driving seem even worse, if that were even possible. Regardless, he makes no comments about said driving because Gibbs didn't look like he was in the mood for that. Then again, this was a chance to further irritate him…

"Who the hell taught you how to drive Gibbs?" Tony quips, hoping to get some sort of reaction out of him. He doesn't get one, in fact it doesn't appear that Gibbs even heard him. Damn this guy was good. Tony supposed he'd have to step up his game a little bit. From there on out the rest of the drive is spent in near total silence, Tony's attempt to listen to music having been shot down before he'd even turned the radio on. Soon after that Tony realized that it was not the time to lighten the mood.

They arrive in Baltimore in what must be record time but for obvious reasons the Baltimore P.D. is already there. Of course. That would do great things for Tony's reputation. Showing up at yet another crime scene. Well at least he wasn't drunk this time. Even as they are getting out of the car it quickly becomes evident that Gibbs will be taking lead on this case, and strangely enough nobody argues with him. If Tony's old partner had been here they would've had quite the turf war on their hands. Of course, Tony's old partner wasn't here. He was six feet under taking a permanent dirt nap. Tony had to take the blame for that and seeing all the others here…well that wouldn't make things easy.

DiNozzo didn't know why Gibbs had dragged him here for this. He was still technically on administrative leave and all he was to Gibbs was a witness who had let the killer walk right in front of them. Yeah, he was going to take the blame for that one as well. If nobody else would point fingers he'd do it himself. He had to blame himself. He was a detective it was his job to notice things and yet a murderer had walked right in front of him and he'd done nothing.

Gibbs must've noticed Tony's hesitation because he says "With me DiNozzo." As he walks over to the crime scene. Tony reluctantly follows.

When Tony gets to the scene it's all he can focus on. All the voices around him turn to blurs, he forgets why he's even there and the only thing he sees is the scene in front of him. They were inside a beat up old house, it was rickety, run down, and probably would've soon been demolished had it not been turned into a crime scene. Three floor boards had been torn up. Under those floorboards was a dismembered corpse still dressed in a Navy uniform. The victim was once again a young woman. She would've been beautiful. But Tony wasn't thinking of that. He was thinking of the crime itself. A dismembered corpse hidden under the floorboards of an old house. It all seemed oddly familiar. It all seemed like something ripped right of a gruesome story. Suddenly it dawned on him. This was something from a story. One he knew well.

Gibbs voice snaps DiNozzo out of his trance, "What's the matter with you DiNozzo? You look like this is your first crime scene."

Tony frowns slightly and then glances up at Gibbs. "I think our killer was a fan of Edgar Allan Poe."

This earns his a look that clearly says 'What the fuck?" He ignores the look and bends down to pick up a small shred of paper off the floor. He reads it quickly and his suspicions are confirmed. On the little slip of paper was written, in elegant script, 'I admit the deed! -tear up the planks! -here, here! -it is the beating of his hideous heart.'

He hands the paper to Gibbs and says "Definitely a fan of Poe."


End file.
